Delayed Justice

Even the flowers that had been carefully placed on the top of her casket 23 years ago were preserved intact.  Because of the conditions inside the vault it is is far more likely that the remains of murder victim Shannon Marie Siders will have something still to tell the forensic pathologist and the forensic anthropologist who will conduct a new examination.  All that follows the exhumation of her body this morning at the Newaygo City Cemetery.  We gathered early on, thinking that the work was to commence at 8 a.m.  The cemetery had been well marked off and  Michigan State Police, city officers, Newaygo County Sheriff Department deupties and volunteers were position to keep the work area secure.  Bob Siders, Shannon’s father, was there and told me that he’d driven up to the cemetery last night and there were some stakes in the ground but the tent covering the gravesite and all the police tape had been added since.

There were more members of the combined security force then there were members of the media…a photog from Chanel 8 (later joined by reporter Ken Kolker for a noon live shot with Bob Siders), a reporter and photog from Channel 13, Heather Peters and Ken Stevens from the Muskegon Chronicle.

The only onlookers were Bob Siders and Brian Aishe, Shannon’s boyfriend at the time of her murder.  A few passersby pulled off the road to ask what was going on, but after Bob told them they soon resumed their journeys into town.

A State Police Mobile Crime Lab moved into position.  It was after nine when a crew took up their shovels and hand dug to clear the top of the vault.  After forty minutes or so you could hear the shovels ring against the impermeable concrete.  It was hot, humid, sometimes with a little rain.  The workers paused to drink bottles of cold water, to unstick the shirts from their backs, and then they took up their shovels again and worked steadily on.  In a while the shovels were down and they were brooming the top of the vault.  And then they opened it, using the backhoe to lift the cover, keeping all media far, far away behind yellow police-line tape.

There was time of apparent consultation at the grave on the best way to proceed.  Sheriff Mike Mercer came to Bob Siders as he watched with the members of the media, drew him apart and talked tenderly with him about the condition of the casket.  He told Bob about the flowers.  Then Sheriff Mercer returned to the gravesite and the work commenced to remove the casket.  That was accomplished while the part of the administrative case leaders came to speak with all the media.  Detective First Lt. Cameron Henke of the Michigan State Police, First Lt. Kevin Leavitt, Hart Post (62) Commander, Newaygo County Sheriff Mike Mercer, and Newaygo County Prosecutor Mike Springstead answered all the questions they could.

While we heard from the brass, the cold case team members were there working, too. The team is led by Michigan State Police D/Sgt. Scott Rios. He is joined by Newaygo Chief of Police Pat Hedlund, D/Sgt. Adam Mercer of the Newaygo County Sheriff’s Department, and D/Sgt. John Forner and D/Trooper Mike Stephens, both of the Michigan State Police.

It took a couple of hours and it was done. Shannon’s body was on its way to a morgue, accompanied by the cold case team and the supervisors, the backhoe had replaced the lide and backfilled the grave. Shannon will make a return trip in the not too distant future, perhaps a matter of weeks. Her reburial is likely to be a very quiet affair.

I needed to get a shot of the cemetery sign, and officers were taking down the yellow tape.  I joked that they needed to carefully re-spool the hundreds of yards so they could reuse it.  Well, no, they said; that was unlikely.  Then, pulling away, I encountered Rich Taylor coming to pick up his mail.  He lives, as his parents and grandparents did, in a house at the back of the cemetery.

“A lot of commotion,” I said.

“I’ve never seen anything like it up here in all my 63 years,” he observed.

Shannon with her dog, Kiesha, 1989.

Of note, the forensic pathologist is Dr. Brian Hunter.  He’s been affiliated with the Newaygo County Medical Examiner’s office since 2010.  He’s also affiliated with Mercy Health Partners.  Dr. Hunter is board-certified as a forensic pathologist by the American Board of Pathology.  The forensic anthropologist is a practitioner of international renown, Dr. Norm Sauer of Michigan State University.  We had the great good fortune to interview Dr. Sauer as a part of our film, Finding Diane.

To my understanding, this is the second time Dr. Sauer has been called in on this case.  The first time was in fall of 1989 immediately after the discovery of Shannon’s body.  At the time, the Newaygo County Medical Examiner was Dr. Ronald Graeser, D.O.  Dr. Graeser had been serving his duty in the Army Reserve and was summoned back from Camp Grayling to work the case. Unsure of his arrival time, Det. Sgt. Dick Miller, Michigan State Police, called in Dr. Sauer to help in the identification of the body.  Dr. Sauer was flown in via helicopter.  Dr. Graeser arrived at about the same time,a litte before, maybe, examined the remains and expressed his certainty based on dental records that the body was that of Shannon Siders.  Dr. Graser subsequently confirmed the identification.  After a look at Shannon’s body from afar, Dr. Sauer returned to East Lansing. He didn’t have the opportunity then to have a detailed look.  So, this marks the second time into the case, but the first time he’s closely examining the body for the clues investigators are so hoping to find.

No outside media this year (yours truly excepted) and it was a very quiet affair, the walk from the park next to the city hall, across the bridge spanning the river, and then up the hill to the cemetery to Shannon Marie Siders’ grave.  Amiee Bonner again organized the event, found helium-filled pink balloons, brought water, brought a prayer, and led the way.  It was good to be there.  Had you told her a year go that the case would stil not be solved, Amiee said, she would have been incredulous.   Last year, she said, law enforments told her that they could have made arests, but conviction would have been uncertain.  This year, police are much further into the process and convictions are much closer to a lock…something just around the corner.

But it still will take time, said Shannon’s father, Bob Siders.  “Even if there was an arrest today it could take a year before there was a trial.”

These things do take time, especially when they are done right.  Well worth the investment.  It’s been  23 years now…not coincidently the number of balloons that slipped into the startling blue heavens this early evening.

Next year, said Bob, he hoped that it would be anniversary marked with knowing who killed his daughter.

Today is the 23rd anniversary of the death of Shannon Marie Siders.  The cold case team is working this like it happened yesterday, and the Newaygo community is very aware of what’s been going on over the last half year.  This Sunday, the 22nd, there will be another memorial walk for Shannon, beginning at 6 p.m. in Brooks Park.  I plan to be there.

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Here’s a case that has had people scratching their heads, and perhaps, finally, there is a link between a “person of interest” and the Oakland Child Killer.  This article in the Macomb Daily by Dave Phillips tells the story.  The person of interest is Archibald “Ed” Sloan, a 70 year-old prison lifer who is NOT NECESSARILY a suspect in this case.  But he loaned his 1966 Bonneville out to someone who left a hair there…the same peson’s hair that had been found on two the victims of the Oakland County Child Murderer.  So, police are trying to find his known associates.

The breaktrhough represents the best lead police have had in 36 years.

Brian Mulherin of the Luddington Daily News has picked up on the story of the 1993 murder of Melissa Simmons.  This is how he begins his story:

It’s been 19 years since Melissa Simmons of Scottville disappeared and was later found in the Pere Marquette River. The Mason County Sheriff’s Office makes no bones about it — it’s an open case and a murder investigation.

Simmons, 15, was last seen June 23, 1993 and her body was found by fishermen July 1, 1993, according to Mason County Sheriff Jeff Fiers.

It hasn’t happened yet, but not for lack of trying.

For the longest time the sheriff’s office wasn’t even calling it a murder.  This represents progress.

The sheriff is certain that somebody knows something:

Fiers said he still believes someone knows what happened to Melissa and is still alive to tell about it.

“There’s someone out there almost 20 years later who hasn’t been brought to justice,” Fiers said. “It irritates and festers.”

Exactly.